The safety of officers is a significant concern for law enforcement agencies worldwide, particularly when officers are often required to perform their duties in potentially volatile and hostile environments. Officers generally have several equipment options for defending themselves in the line of duty. Non-lethal options include utilizing pepper spray to temporarily blind and disorient a perpetrator. Officers are often equipped with a Taser, allowing officers to temporarily subdue a perpetrator as well. Because of the available non-lethal options, a firearm is considered to be a last resort for a law enforcement officer's defense against a hostile perpetrator. A struggle over an officer's firearm can often be fatal due to the potential for an unintentional discharge of the firearm or the officer's loss of control over the firearm. In the event of a struggle, it is imperative that a dispatcher, another officer, or other law enforcement monitor is able to quickly assess the officer's situation and react accordingly to provide assistance to the officer. A dangerous situation can potentially become fatal if the officer is unable to call for support or provide information for the dispatcher to provide assistance.
Because a firearm is considered to be an officer's last resort for defense, any intentional or unintentional discharge of a firearm is a significant incident. One of the greatest hurdles to overcome when determining guilt or innocence of involved parties in a shooting incident is the lack of reliable witnesses and conflicting accounts provided by witnesses. Due to the aforementioned issues, it can often be difficult to accurately assess the details of a firearm discharge incident.
The present invention seeks to improve the safety of law enforcement officers in the line of duty as well as improve the ability to determine facts following a firearm discharge incident. The present invention is a firearm monitoring and tracking system that monitors and tracks the location, removal from holster, and discharge of a firearm. The present invention is able to provide information that a dispatcher or other law enforcement personnel are able to use to quickly assess an officer's situation and respond accordingly to provide support to the officer.